Garment



jan. 2.2, 194%?` A-A. E. NORTHRUP 2,393,253l

GARMENT Filed oct. 18, 1944 tnnnnnnnnnnn,

HAROLD BRADFQRD NRTHRUP Patented Jan. 22, 1946 UNITED STATES4 PAT-ENT OFFICE GARMENT Harold Bradford Northrup, Johnstown, N. Y. Application .October 18, 1944, Serial No. 559,276

4 Claims.

This invention relates to garments for the upper portion of the body which are made, at least in part, of knitted material. The invention is particularly applicable to childrens and inants shirts and nightgowns having a closed neck opening which requires no fastening means such as tapes, buttons, or the like. However, it also may be applied to sweaters, sweat shirts and other garments made, at least in part, of knitted material.

A form of infants shirt or night gown heretofore proposed, comprises a front having the upper portion which covers the chestv made ci' tWo overlapping pieces of knitted material which extend, respectively, from the shoulders downwardly and diagonally across the garment to the opposite side edges thereof. The overlapping pieces are secured together. only along their bottom edges and at the sides of the garments. Such garments are a decided improvement over the more usual type of infants garments, as the overlapping portions of the two pieces provide a double thickness of material across the chest of the garment. They also provide a closed` neck opening which requires no fastening means such as tapes, buttons, or the like. However, as the overlapping front pieces are secured together only along their lower edges and at the sides of the garment, the neck opening readily may be expanded or enlarged to facilitate placing of the shirt on an infant.

In garments of the above type, as heretofore proposed, the wales of the overlapping front sections which form the front portion of the neck opening, run either vertically, or diagonally in each piece, towards the shoulders from which the pieces extend. When garments are so constructed there is considerable stretch to the material in a direction substantially parallel to the free edges of the overlapping front pieces which form the neck opening, and the neckline quickly gets out of shape and the garment thereafter fails to snugly t the body of the infant and give the maximum protection against cold; also the stretching of the free edges causes the garment to present a baggy and unsightly appearance.

The object of the present invention is to provide a garment, at' terial of the general type described above, which is so constructed that the free edges of the overlapping front sections will have relatively little, if any, stretch so that the neckline will not get out of shape and the garment, even after long least in part, of knitted ma- 60 rial Shaped at the top periods of use, will continue to snugly iit the infant and present a sightly appearance.

The above object is obtained by cutting the pieces which form the overlapping front sections so that the wales in those sections of the iinished garment run substantially horizontally. With the wales in those pieces running horizontally, the free edges extend in suoli direction with respect to the wales that there is relatively little stretch of the material in the direction of the free edges.

It has been proposed in knitted under garments having a completely closed neck opening, or a neck opening which is Closed by a drawstring or the like, to form the upper portion of the garment and the sleeves from a single piece of knitted material in which the wales run horizontally. However, the problem ofthe neck line stretching and taking a permanent set does not exist in such garments as it does in garments of the type described above, where the overlapping front sections present long free edges which extend from the shoulders diagonally across the garment to the opposite side edges thereof only a slight distance above the waistline, with no means for pulling them together, or causing them to lie snugly against the body once they have become stretched out of shape.

The invention will be further described in connection with the accompanying drawing, but it is to be understood that such further description is by way of exemplication and that the invention is not limited thereto except to the extent defined in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

' Fig. 1 is a front view of an infants shirt embodying the present invention; and

Fig. 2 is a longitudinally sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawing, the garment comprises a back I and a front including -a lower section 2 and overlapping sections 3 and 4. The side edges of the upper portion of the back seotion and the upper side edges of the overlapping front sections are cut along arcuate lines `5 and 6 to provide armholes in which sleeves 'l and 8 are sewed.

All parts of the garment preferably are made of knitted material which, if desired, may be napped or brushed. However, in certain types of garments some of the sections, other than the overlapping front pieces 3 and 4, may be made'of woven, rather than knitted material.

The back l is made of a single piece of mateto form the back of a closed neck opening 9. The front section 3 is connected to the upper edge of the back section along a shoulder seam. It extends downwardly from the seam I Il, and has a portion II which extends diagonally across the garment Where it is stitched to the opposite side edge I2 thereof. Likewise, the front section 4 is connected at its upper edge to the back along a shoulder seam I3 and extends downwardly and has a section I4 which extends diagonally across the garment to the opposite side edge I5 thereof. The lower edges of the overlapping portions of the front sections 3 and 4 are stitched together and to the upper edge of the lower front section along a line I8 extending horizontally across the front of the garment between the waist line and the lower edge of the armholes.

The sides of the front section 2 are stitched to the side edges of the back section I along the sides I2 and I 5 to complete the garment.

The open ends of the sleeves and the open bottom of the garment may be over-stitched to prevent fraying of those edges.

'I'he Wales in the back section I and in the lower front section 2 extend in a vertical direction to provide the necessary transverse stretch in the garment. However, the overlapping front sections 3 and 4 are cut from knitted material so that the wales Will extend horizontally as shown in the drawing. By having the wales, in those sections extend in a horizontal direction, the free edges II and I 3, at least for the greater portion of their length, will extend in such a direction with respect to the direction ofthe wales, that there will be relatively little stretch of those edges which would cause them to become baggy. Thus, the upper front pieces always will lie snugly against the body of the infant and the garment will present a sightly appearance. In order to further reinforce the free edges against the stretch, they may be bound with a knitted tape I9 in which the wales extend parallel to the edges.

The sleeves are cut from knitted material so that the wales extend substantially horizontally so as to provide the necessary stretch across the upper portion of the arms and not unduly interfere with the natural arm movements of the infant.

By having the upper front sections 3 and 4 terminate at the line I5, the desired double thickness of material across the chest of the infant is attained, while the lower portion of the front of the garment is of but single thickness. If thegarment were of multiple'thickness for the entire length of the front, it might be-too warm for normal summer wear.

From the above it will be understood that the essential feature of the present invention is providing the overlapping front sections 3 and 4 with wales which extend horizontally so that there will be relatively little, if any, stretch to the free edge portions of those sections which would cause those edges to take a permanent set which would prevent the upper portion of the garment from snugly fitting the infant and which also would cause the garment to present a baggy and unsightly appearance.

The invention has been particularly described in connection with an infant's shirt which is made Wholly of knitted material. However, it will be readily understood that the invention is equally applicable to nightgowns for infants or` small children, or to any other type of garment for the upper portion of the body having overlapping front sections which are of knitted material.

I claim:

l. A body garment having a top portion comprising a back and a front, the front including a section of knitted material extending from each shoulder downwardly and across the front of the garment to a point at least beyond the longitudinal center of the garment, whereby the lower portions of said sections overlap at the center of the front, said overlapping portions having free edges, the upper portions of which cooperate with the upper portion of the back to form a neck opening, the wales of said overlapping front sections extending substantially horizontally.

2. A body garment having a top portion cornprising a back and a front, the back being of knitted material having the wales thereof running vertically, the front including a section of knitted material extending from each shoulder downwardly and across the front of the garment to a point adjacent the opposite side thereof, whereby the lower portions of said sections overlap, said overlapping portions having free edges, the upper portions of which cooperate with the upper portion of the back to form the neck opening, the wales of said overlapping front sections extending substantially horizontally.

3. A body garment having a top comprising a back and a front, the front including a section of knitted material extending from each shoulder downwardly and across the front of the garment to a point adjacent the side edges of the garment, whereby th'e lower portions of said sections overlap, said overlapping portions having free edges, the upper portions of which cooperate with a free edge of the upper portion of the back to form a neck opening, portions of the outer side edges of the front sections and the back section cooperating to form armholes, and sleeves ci knitted material secured to the edges of said armholes, the wales in the sleeves and the wales in the front sections extending substantially horizontally.

4. An infants garment comprising a one-piece back of knitted material having the wales thereof extending vertically, a front including a lower portion of knitted material having the wales thereof extending vertically and upper sections of knitted material extending from each shoulder downwardly and across the garment to the opposite side edges thereof, whereby the lower portions of said sections overlap, said overlapping portions having free edges, the upper portions of which cooperate with the upper portion of the back to form a neck opening, the wales of said overlapping upper front sections extending substantially horizontally, the side edges of the overlapping portions of the upper front sections being secured to the back section at the sides of the garment, the bottom edges of the overlapping portions of the upper front section being sewed to one another and to the upper edge of the lower portion of the front section, and sleeves secured to the upper portion of the back section and to the outer side edges of the upper sections of the front, the sleeves being of knitted material and having the wales thereof extending substantially horizontally.

HAROLD BRADFORD NORTHRUP. 

